WWE uploaded the above video to its YouTube channel today, the full Undertaker vs. Triple H match from WrestleMania 28. Shawn Michaels was serving as guest referee. Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, and Michael Cole were on the call. Only in this video, they weren’t. For whatever reason, the commentary has been edited out completely.
The match is so much better because of it.
This match was heavy on story, and it connects in a far more meaningful way when you don’t have someone outright telling you what is happening. The big moments feel even bigger. They’re allowed to ebb and flow, to breathe, to take you for the ride on their own merits.
Fast forward to the 32:08 mark to see the spot where Undertaker attempts a Tombstone but Triple H slides off his back and pushes him right into Sweet Chin Music before following up with a Pedigree. The crowd swells, certain the streak will end after three slaps of the mat, and then explodes in disbelief when ‘Taker gets his shoulder up after two. The entire stadium is buzzing as Michaels flops around before resting in the corner with his face in his hands, tortured at all of this. For his part, “The Game” rolls over like he’s searching for an answer to a question he didn’t think he would need to ask: How?
This was a powerful moment — HBK’s overacting aside — that hits even harder with no one speaking over it. So is the finish, when Triple H accepts his fate but goes out in defiance.
Really, all of it is better without commentary.